2. Background Research

In order to conduct an experiment to answer your question you are going to need to know something about your topic. Use the Background Research Plan Worksheet to map out what you will be looking for.  

Start by brainstorming keywords.  For example, if the question you're trying to answer is "How does milk help decrease spiciness better than water or Pepsi?"  Then some keywords might be:

• milk
• spiciness
• Pepsi
• water

Next, use the worksheet to come up with Who, What, When, Where, and Why questions about your topic using your key words.  Here's an example:

Finally, eliminate irrelevant questions and choose 3-4 relevant questions to answer in your research.  Questions that are irrelevant are questions that are not going to help you design and understand your experiment.  Questions that are relevant are questions that are going to help you design and understand your experiment.

Video Tutorial:

When you do your research you will be looking for how to answer each of those four relevant questions.  Once you're ready to start your research, visit our Getting Ready to Research page to begin.